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() Immigration enforcement actions continue in Chicago, along with protests, as the Trump administration continues “Operation Midway Blitz.”
President Donald Trump has threatened to send troops to Chicago as well, to crack down on crime and protect immigration agents, but has so far backed down after Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker objected.
Instead, the president has deployed troops to Memphis, Tennessee, to fight crime and announced plans to send troops to Portland, Oregon, to deal with immigration protests.
In Chicago, protests have erupted again near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, a suburb of the city.
Protests are likely to expand throughout the week as protesters continue to gather outside the ICE facility. The village of Broadview police department has announced it is actually opening an investigation into federal agents after they allegedly fired “less-lethal” ammunition into a local CBS reporter’s car, according to local media reports.
ICE officers reached out to the village over the weekend, saying it would be a “crap show,” though they used an expletive to describe the situation.
Federal officers and protesters clashed, with more than 11 people arrested Saturday after Border Patrol agents and federal officers deployed tear gas and pepper spray balls.
“There were weapons brought there, loaded handguns within feet of border patrol agents. That’s not what this is about,” said U.S. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino. “We believe in the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment and all of that, but don’t come to a protest ready to fight or shoot border patrol agents. It won’t work out well for you.”
The Department of Homeland Security said an object that appeared to be an explosive device was also recovered.
Bovino led a group of ICE detainees into the facility on Saturday, then led a group of agents in pushing back protesters as the night went on, taking wooden boards from some demonstrators who intended to use them to keep officers back.
In downtown Chicago, agents walked Michigan Avenue on Sunday, a popular tourist area, as marine units patrolled the Chicago River.
Multiple people were detained by federal agents, including a family, with witnesses telling the child was crying.
On Sunday, a small group of protesters returned to the Broadview facility, where multiple people were heckling and shining lights at agents. Those people were hit with less-lethal ammunition.
“It’s scary because all my family and friends, they don’t have proper documentation,” said David, a protester. “It angers me, it makes me want to cry. It’s insane, they’re all hiding. They’re all scared to go to work. It’s insane to me, I don’t get it.”
Activists describe poor conditions in the facility.
spoke to an 18-year-old man outside the facility yesterday, who said his mother was picked up by ICE and is in the facility.
He said he came to try to bring her clothes, but wasn’t allowed. Although DHS says they are going after the worst of the worst, the man said that doesn’t describe his mom, who is just someone who sells tamales on a street corner.